Pinoys rule global travelogue arena

BEACH-READY “The Poor Traveler” creators basking in the sun, sand and sea at Port Barton in Palawan in this 2018 photo.

When Yosh Dimen and Vins Carlos created their travel blog in 2010, vlogging was not as mainstream as it is today. The duo behind The Poor Traveler—now with more than 1.2 million subscribers and followers across several social media platforms—found it imperative to produce multimedia content, an innovation from purely written blogs, to keep up with their audience.

The Poor Traveler’s primary content caters to Filipino travelers who may be clueless on how they will plan their trips but are nonetheless eager to see new places. They make budget-friendly suggestions, sample itineraries that their followers can visit, as well as instructions on how to secure visas and other travel essentials.

As the blog name suggests, the content creators offer tips on how to make a trip fun but affordable. But it goes beyond just the budget.

“It was in reference to the fact that when we started traveling in our early years, we made a lot of mistakes. We got lost a lot; we got scammed a lot; we overspent a lot; we ran into mishaps a lot. We wanted to document those and give tips along the way so our followers won’t make the same mistakes and would have a more enjoyable trip,” Dimen, 37, tells the Inquirer.

The Poor Traveler is among the 1,800 Filipino content creators who contributed 76 percent of the revenues generated last year by the Klook Kreator Program, an affiliate initiative by travel platform Klook aimed at establishing a community for travel bloggers and vloggers. This made the Filipinos the top-performing creators across the globe in 2023, a feat that can be attributed to their dedication to produce relevant, fun and informative content.

“They’ve become one of our strongest allies in advocating for finding joy in travel and exploring the Philippines and the rest of the world,” says Michelle Ho, general manager of Klook Philippines and Thailand. Across the globe, the Klook Kreator Program has 15,000 creators across 13 social media platforms.

Young followers

A Klook study shows that nine out of 10 millennial and Gen Z travelers scroll through several social media platforms for travel recommendations. These young travelers search for unique, real and engaging content they can take inspiration from.

“Filipinos are such natural content creators—creative, informative and entertaining—with a knack for genuinely engaging with their audiences. We are amazed at how they draw on their unique perspectives to connect with their followers locally and globally,” Ho says.

The full-time content creators have observed that certain content thrives when shared on certain social media platforms, giving them insight on how to better reach out to their audience.

“For example, we’ve observed that our TikTok followers are generally younger and are probably budding travelers, while our Instagram followers are more experienced,” Dimen explains.

On TikTok, Dimen says their most viewed videos cater to tips for first-time travelers who may not be sure about the tricks of the trade, so to speak. These include application for passport, flight check-in and other travel basics.

Meanwhile, the bloggers’ followers on Instagram are more interested in knowing how to obtain “hard-to-get visas” like US and Schengen visas, which are usually only secured by seasoned travelers.

Joining the Klook Kreator Program, Dimen says, means more benefits for their followers, in addition to the travel tips. Their followers can avail of promo code assigned to The Poor Traveler when booking accommodations and tour activities via Klook. “And yes, we also earn from every successful referral,” Dimen adds.

TRAVEL FOR A LIVING Yosh Dimen and Vins Carlos hanging out at Rainbow Steps in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2016. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS

Where Filipinos go

According to Klook data, Filipinos love visiting their Asian neighbors.

Filipino travelers usually avail the exclusive Klook Pass Singapore where they are granted access to up to 10 popular attractions. The Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car is the go-to activity in Hong Kong while many Filipinos also book rides on Shinkansen bullet train in Japan.

Locally, top attractions include Manila Ocean Park and Enchanted Kingdom.

For Dimen and Carlos, their favorite travel spots are those filled with adventure and wonder. “Sagada is one of the first places we visited as bloggers and we return every couple of years or so. We love the climate and the quietness. Whenever we visit, we’re reminded of the sense of adventure we had when we were new to travel,” says 38-year-old Carlos.

A road trip across the Australian Outback is also one for the books, Carlos points out. Also known as “the bush,” the Outback is often an undeveloped land located far away from coastal capital cities. He recalls they had a camping trip there, making stops in the middle of nowhere along the way.

Of course, they also love going to Tokyo, a favorite of every traveler who wants to walk across the famous Shibuya crossing, gaze at the majestic Mt. Fuji and smell the delicate sakura.

“It just has a lot to offer travelers, and we love its frenetic big-city energy and gastronomy,” Carlos says.

The travel bloggers are now gearing up for another trip back to Japan to realize their dream of setting foot in all 47 prefectures of the Land of the Rising Sun. “It’s a goal 11 years in the making, as we’ve been trying to accomplish this since 2013,” Carlos shares.

Authentic

For aspiring content creators, Carlos advises they produce authentic content if they want to keep the audience engaged.

“Users love social media content from creators because they are relatable and they are based on real experiences. The more you try to sound like a TV show or a magazine or an ad, the less it becomes believable,” he explains. It should feel organic, Carlos stresses.

Dimen, meanwhile, encourages content creators to produce output not only for monetization. Also, only feature products that are aligned with their own preferences so these creators can endorse them genuinely.

“Continue creating content that benefits your audience regardless of whether you earn from it or not. At the end of the day, they loved and followed you even before you started making money from it,” Dimen says.